


Please Don't Talk About Me With All Your Friends

by TooGoodToBeBad



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Garreg Mach Monastery (Fire Emblem), Mentioned Blue Lions Students (Fire Emblem), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27631160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooGoodToBeBad/pseuds/TooGoodToBeBad
Summary: “Are you guys betting on my comings and goings?” Ingrid angrily demanded.“Just your comings and goings with one person,” Sylvain waggled his eyebrows at her.An unwelcome heat burned at the base of her neck, and she could feel it inching its way towards her cheeks and ears. “I’m allowed to have friends, you know.”“Never said you weren’t,” Sylvain said through a mouthful of cookie. “But a boyfriend-”If Ingrid could punch Sylvain in the gut and send half-chewed cookie bits spewing all over the table, she would’ve done so in a heartbeat.Spending time with Ashe was very pleasant. Hearing everyone else talk about it was decidedly less so.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Ingrid Brandl Galatea
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Please Don't Talk About Me With All Your Friends

Ingrid’s ears perked up at the sound of the monastery’s mid-afternoon bells as they broke through the silence of the library. She closed the book in her hands with a gentle thud, and the legs of her chair scraped gently against the floor as she prepared to head out.

“Where are you going?” Felix asked without looking up from the parchment he was writing on. 

Her green eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, but he was still scribbling what may or may not have been an assignment that was due the very next day. “I have somewhere to be.”

“But it’s a free day today,” he said drily and finally looked up at her. “Where do you _have_ to be?”

His face was impassive, his amber eyes betraying no sort of emotion whatsoever. “I’m meeting up with Ashe,” she said simply.

And there it was - the faintest ghost of a smirk pulled at the corners of Felix’s lips. “I see,” he hummed nonchalantly while he leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his neck. “In that case, don’t let me keep you.”

She almost gave him a withering glare but thought better of it. After pushing her chair back in and clutching the book close to her chest, she turned on her heel and prepared to make her way out of the library. Her footsteps rang out in the stillness of the room as her boots clicked against the wooden floor. She was nearly at the exit, and-

“Hey Ingrid. Where are you going?” Sylvain called out with a tone that was way too mischievous for her liking. She let out a sigh before turning to face him. He looked at her with a languid smile as he idly ran his fingers through his crimson hair. Beside him, Annette looked up from her parchment, which had all sorts of notes scrawled on it in her loopy handwriting. 

“I hope you’re not making poor Annette do the whole project, Sylvain,” she raised an eyebrow at him and placed a hand on her hip. 

“Sheesh, Ingrid, relax! Annette got tired of reading my handwriting and offered to rewrite the whole thing,” he laughed while patting her on the head good-naturedly. “But I promise you, I more than pulled my weight in this project. Tell her, Annette.”

“It’s true!” Annette beamed after forcefully removing Sylvain’s hand from her head. “He really helped out with this one. I promise, Ingrid,” she nodded her head eagerly, and her orange braids bobbed up and down slightly.

“That’s a relief, then,” she smiled warmly at the mage. 

“But you still haven’t answered the question, Ingrid,” Sylvain smirked at her with his chin resting on his hands. “Where are you going?”

“I’m meeting up with Ashe,” she frowned, and then scowled as Sylvain’s mouth twisted into a stupidly massive and self-satisfied grin. 

“You heard her, Annette,” his voice now dripped with smug satisfaction. “Pay up.”

Annette grumbled under her breath before reaching into her bag and pulling out something wrapped in wax paper. She slid it to Sylvain, who unwrapped it and began munching loudly on the cookie within, despite the fact that there was a notice reading _please do not eat in the library_ posted not even ten feet away from him on the wall.

“And that was the last one Mercie and I baked today,” she grumbled and crossed her arms across her chest. 

“Are you guys betting on my comings and goings?” Ingrid angrily demanded.

“Just your comings and goings with _one_ person,” Sylvain waggled his eyebrows at her. 

An unwelcome heat burned at the base of her neck, and she could feel it inching its way towards her cheeks and ears. “I’m allowed to have friends, you know.”

“Never said you weren’t,” Sylvain said through a mouthful of cookie. “But a _boyfriend_ -”

If Ingrid could punch Sylvain in the gut and send half-chewed cookie bits spewing all over the table, she would’ve done so in a heartbeat. Since she could not, she could only stand and level what she hoped was a very poisonous glare towards him. The cheeky grin only widened, which was not what she wanted to see right now.

“Don’t take it the wrong way, Ingrid!” Annette chirped excitedly from her seat. “We all think the two of you are cute together!”

Something heavy settled in the pit of her stomach, and she could feel her jaw go slack at Annette’s words. “What do you… he’s just… we’re not together!”

“Ingrid, Ingrid, Ingrid,” Sylvain clicked his tongue at her repeatedly. “Everyone’s noticed it, so if you think that you’re being slick and sly, I can assure you that you are not.”

“Everyone’s noticed, Ingrid,” Annette added softly and clasped her hands together on the table. “You two do spend a lot of time together.”

Ingrid could feel it - her face was definitely burning now. “Well I don’t know what to tell you, because there’s nothing between the two of us.”

Sylvain let out a low chuckle before lackadaisically leaning back in his chair. “No need to be so defensive, Ingrid. Even Felix thinks it’s cute!”

“I’m not a part of your conversation. And I do not find things _cute_.” Felix called out from across the library.

“Rude,” Sylvain mumbled under his breath before turning his head towards Annette. “Really, I don’t know what you see in him.”

Annette blanched at his words and frantically brought her hands to her face in a futile attempt to hide the flush on her face. “I thought you said you weren’t gonna bring that up anymore!”

Sylvain cracked a lopsided grin at her. “Whoops.”

With Sylvain and Annette seemingly distracted, Ingrid tried to stealthily slip away from the two redheads. But since the day itself was seemingly conspiring against her, she immediately stepped on a creaky floorboard. The blood in her veins turned to ice, and she could feel Sylvain’s hazel eyes train themselves back on her. “Say, Ingrid,” he asked with such feigned innocence in his voice. “What _are_ you and Ashe doing today?”

She gulped nervously, and she could feel her hands start to curl into fists. “He’s cooking me a meal.”

“How nice,” he hummed thoughtfully. “Hey Annette, how many times has Ashe cooked you a special meal that was just for you?”

“Zero,” Annette replied playfully. 

“Hey Felix!” Sylvain raised his voice, seemingly unaware that most people didn’t take too kindly to shouting in the library. “How many times-”

“I heard you,” Felix grunted as he made his way to their table and plopped down into the seat across Sylvain. “And zero,” he replied tersely before asking Annette questions about the assignment that he definitely already knew the answers to.

“Interesting,” Sylvain whistled, and this time he might not have been talking about her, before leaning forward and resting his chin on the tabletop. “Have fun, Ingrid!”

* * *

“Ingrid?”

She looked up from her plate of pasta to see Ashe’s pale green eyes blinking at her curiously. “Yes, Ashe?” 

“Is the food alright?” he asked nervously, and she could see his fingers fidgeting as he sat.

“It’s delicious, Ashe!” she replied warmly, and based on the sigh of relief that escaped him, the smile she gave him must have seemed real. 

“Oh, I’m glad to hear it,” he chuckled. “It’s just... you usually just inhale the whole plate, but now you’re sort of picking at it. I was worried I’d messed up with the ingredients or something.”

The fork slipped out of her grasp and clanged onto the table. “Your cooking is perfect, Ashe, but I must confess, I have a lot on my mind at the moment.”

“Oh?” his eyes widened and he pushed loose strands of grey hair away from his forehead. “Is everything alright? Is it something I can help with?”

Her heart started to sink into the pit of her stomach at his earnestness to try solve a problem that he may have unintentionally caused, and the way he looked at her now definitely wasn’t helping. There was a boyish sincerity written in his wide-eyed gaze that sent something fuzzy unfurling within the confines of her ribcage. A sharp and deliberate bite of her tongue snapped her back to reality - the reality where her classmates were just being dumb and sticking their noses where they definitely didn’t belong.

“It’s just Sylvain,” her lungs deflated with a heavy sigh.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Ashe nodded his head thoughtfully. “Is it the usual, then?”

She could feel something in her throat tighten. The words she wanted to say seemingly vanished from her vocabulary, and from the way Ashe started to frown at her, it was showing on her face. “It’s not what he did this time, no. It’s more of something that he said.”

Ashe placed his elbows on the tabletop and rested his chin atop his hands. “Isn’t that par for the course, though, as far as Sylvain is concerned? You’ve told me on multiple occasions that Sylvain does have a tendency to say rather… dumb things.”

“It’s not just Sylvain,” she replied. “It’s Annette as well. And maybe Felix, too.”

He raised a perplexed eyebrow at her. “That’s a lot of people.”

She nodded glumly and picked the fork back up so she could stab at the last few pieces of pasta on her plate. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Do you…” his voice trailed off slightly. “Did you want to talk about it?”

In response, Ingrid nearly choked on her pasta. “What?” she sputtered. 

“I mean, Professor Byleth’s always talking about how we should talk about our problems, so I just thought-”

“I don’t know if I can talk about it just yet,” her voice sounded small to her own ears. “It’s… tough.”

He straightened his posture, and the corners of his mouth twisted down in a tiny frown. “I see. Well, if it’s something big, we could always speak with the Professor-”

“No!” she cried out, which got him to raise another eyebrow at her. “It’s not so serious that we need to talk to Professor Byleth about it. Really, Ashe, I’ll be fine. I appreciate your concern, I really do, but this is just something that needs to resolve itself.”

A thoughtful expression crossed his face. “Alright, if you say so. It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it. But I have an idea that might make you feel a bit better.”

“What did you have in mind?”

An excited smile formed on his face, and that playful twinkle in his eye, the one she always saw when he was reading a good book or cooking, was back. “How do you feel about fishing?”

* * *

Fishing was always pleasant to Ingrid. It was a calming and relaxing respite from the worries of the day. The pond was always still and peaceful, and as she sat side by side with Ashe on the dock while their legs dangled above the water, she felt so far away, so removed from the nonsense her classmates were spouting.

Except it wasn’t exactly nonsense.

Truth be told, she was spending a lot of time with Ashe. Whether it was reading another exciting tale about the glories of knighthood, or partaking in the simple pleasure of sharing a meal, or even fighting alongside each other during the monthly missions, the two of them started finding themselves in each other’s company more often than not. It was hard not to, actually, especially when he actively shared her dream of knighthood. It was a welcome change from Felix, who scoffed at her, and Dimitri and Sylvain, who politely supported her. Every conversation with him left her more determined and more inspired to chase after her dreams. 

And there was the way her heart fluttered in her chest whenever he gave her a wide and earnest smile that left her all giddy inside. 

What she didn’t quite get was why she had to get so much grief from everyone else, especially from Sylvain of all people, who really was the last person qualified to give lectures about acceptable uses of free time.

“Ooh, I’ve got a bite!” Ashe cried out excitedly beside her as he eagerly got to his feet. Something thrashed violently underwater. With a forceful tug, Ashe reeled it in, and a fish broke past the surface of the water and dangled on the end of his line. Ingrid clapped her hands excitedly while Ashe gave her a triumphant smile.

“That’s a real hefty trout,” she beamed at him. “Great catch!”

“It really is,” he grinned as he unhooked the fish and placed it in a basket. For a moment his eyes focused on something behind her, and suddenly his cheeks flushed a dull pink while a small squeak escaped him.

She quickly turned around, not really knowing what to expect. What she really didn’t expect to see was Dimitri standing a ways off and waving at the two of them with a polite smile on his face. Unsure of what else to do, she waved back at him, and in response Dimitri only gave them two eager thumbs up before continuing his journey to wherever it was he was going. With a perplexed expression on her face, she turned back to Ashe, who was now as red as a tomato. 

“Are you alright, Ashe?”

“It’s nothing!” he cried out.

She placed her hands on her hips and tried again. “Ashe, did His Highness do anything to you? I’m used to reining in Felix and Sylvain, but I won’t hesitate to-”

“Saints, Ingrid, it’s nothing like that!” his eyes widened. “It’s just…”

“You can tell me if you want.”

“But fishing was supposed to be about helping you! I don’t want to pile on to whatever it is you’re already dealing with.”

Her posture relaxed, and she could feel the corners of her lips turning up in a shy smile. “That’s sweet of you, Ashe. I really appreciate that. But if you ever want to talk about it, or any other problem you’ve got, I’d be more than willing to lend an ear.”

He smiled at her, and that flutter in heart was back. “It’s just… it was sort of about you,” he said sheepishly while he scratched at the back of his neck. 

Her eyebrow quirked back upwards and her lips straightened out in a tight, thin line. “What?”

“While we were cleaning the warehouse the other day, he struck up the strangest conversation with me. He thought you and I were _together_.”

All of a sudden her heart was in her throat and blocking her airways, making it hard to breathe. “What?” she asked again. Her voice was suddenly very tiny, and she tried to ignore the way her hands were trembling. The last thing she needed at the moment was Dimitri piling on her alongside everyone else. Her head started to feel like it was spinning, and she returned to her seat at the edge of the dock. “What did you tell him?” 

“Obviously I told him he was mistaken!” 

“And this was completely out of the blue and unprompted?”

He nodded and took a seat beside her. “It’s not like I was telling him about how pretty you are or anything! He just said it! Completely out of nowhere.”

She let out a resigned sigh and pressed her palms against her eyes. “Is he the only one who’s said anything like that?” 

“Well, not really.”

“What do you mean by that?” she cocked her head towards him, who was now staring a hole in his boots as they dangled just above the water. “Ashe, who else has been talking?”

“Mercedes,” he gulped nervously and clasped his hands together on his lap. “Sylvain.”

_Stupid Sylvain._

“I’m sorry, Ingrid,” he said. “I didn’t want to just drop this on you because you have a lot on your mind, and I’m letting people get to me, and-”

She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Ashe. In fact, that was the same thing that was bugging me earlier today. I just didn’t know how to tell you. Earlier in the library, Sylvain, Annette, and even Felix were all saying things, and I let it get to me.”

His face blanched at her words, and the freckles that dotted his face were now more pronounced. “Saints,” he mumbled and started counting off on his fingers. “That’s pretty much the whole class now. Except Dedue, who thankfully isn’t really into that sort of gossip.”

“I guess it is,” she said. “Why do people have to talk like that about us?”

“His Highness said it was because we spend a lot of time together.”

“But that’s not our fault!” she threw her hands up in exasperation.

“I know it’s not,” he said softly as he stared at the surface of the pond. “Listen, Ingrid. I really like spending time with you. In fact, out of everyone else in class, I like spending time with you the most, but maybe we should…” his voice trailed off while a faint blush bloomed on his cheeks. “Spend less time together?”

His words were like tiny knives stabbing at her heart. “Why would we do that?”

“So that everyone else stops talking.”

“But that’s not fair to us,” she said. “Ashe, I really enjoy your company.”

A soft smile crossed his face, and for a moment the tightness coiled within her ribs unwound. “Thanks, Ingrid. That means a lot to me; it really does,” he said.

She let out a delicate giggle and turned her gaze towards the water. “Maybe we should refuse to let their chatter get to us. After all, it doesn’t really affect us. I think a little teasing from Sylvain is a small price to pay for the pleasure of your time and company.”

“You really mean that?”

“I really do,” she smiled. For the umpteenth time that day, her heart fluttered in her chest and she felt as free as the wide, open sky without the words of her classmates weighing her down. As she got to her feet, she offered her hand to Ashe, who blinked slowly at her. 

“Where are we going?” he asked as he took her hand, and she hadn’t realized how warm his hand would be, or how nice it felt tangled up with her own. 

“Let’s go cook that trout you caught.”

**Author's Note:**

> "Real Hefty Trout" is a really dumb reference
> 
> Thanks for reading! Feedback and comments are appreciated!
> 
> I'm slowly but surely on my way to becoming a majority shareholder in this ship, but I don't care - we need more of these two.
> 
> I hope you guys liked this!


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